The island nation of Grenada is blessed with great natural beauty, people as lovely as their landscape, and no armed conflict. Inter-personal violence, however, is endemic on this tropical island, including domestic violence, corporal punishment in the schools, street violence, and occasional police violence. Everyone knows of the problems, but the patterns continue largely unabated, resulting in a great deal of suffering, family cycles of harm, and generations of single mothers struggling to maintain families in a challenging economy. More women than men attend our conflict resolution workshops, more women than men achieve educationally and vocationally, and more women than men are willing to talk about what is wrong. Some men, however, are fully responsible and engaged, including men in the police department and throughout the bureaucracies and institutions.

For all these reasons, our workshops are crowded and the requests for training grow each year. This year we offered our first Training of Trainers to 30 participants who have been with us before. Following that, we offered another basic workshop, this time assisted by our TOT group who led exercises and reviewed designs and strategies. Hopefully the TOT group members will stay connected to each other during the year, and the strongest among them will start leading their own workshops.

Last year we did a separate workshop for the Royal Grenadian Police Force and this year they were back again in the TOT and the basic workshop, as were many members of GNOW, the Grenadian National Organization of Women. We also draw many members of government ministries, school personnel, St George’s University (our sponsor) staff, community activists, etc. We explore the roots of the violence in family socialization patterns that allow young men a great deal of personal freedom and laxity while encouraging young women in assuming responsibility. We also think about education, economics, and commerce that may provide more opportunities for women, thus marginalizing men, especially those without advanced education. Interestingly, although Grenada is a very Christian country in terms of church attendance and prayers in public life, there is very little formal marriage, which may perpetuate family dynamics that create some of these difficulties. However, as an outsider, I know very little and am cautious about any generalizations or simplistic explanations of complex cultural dynamics. I can report that our participants believe that similar family and gender issues are common in other Caribbean countries.

Our group members are trying their best to address all of these forms of violence, and hopefully are planting new ideas and seeds of peace in their families, workplaces, church groups, police stations, and associations. I will be online with them during the year, helping as needed and encouraging their efforts. We owe a debt of gratitude to St George’s University and the Psychological Services Center of SGU who organize and support our annual workshops and make our participation possible. It is much to SGU’s credit that it sponsors these workshops, which benefit not only its own employees, but also many beyond the university from civil society and government units in Grenada.

With an island population of only 100,000, we can imagine that our efforts might matter and make a small contribution to harmony and well-being in Grenada. We are grateful for this partnership and our modest role. 

A small island in the Eastern Caribbean, Grenada is home to St. George’s University, where I have been a Visiting Professor for two weeks during each of the last four years. This January, I led workshops for approximately 150 people in conflict management skills for the workplace, community, and family. Participants came from the University faculty and staff, but also from NGOs, educational and religious institutions, and government offices throughout the island. We held special workshops for the Royal Grenadian Police Force and for the St. George’s University Medical Clinic.

After three days, one police officer suggested they change their name from Police Force to Police Service, reflecting on the insight that when he reached home after work, he still behaved as a force! The police drew up a set of principles to present to their department directors, entitled “How we can develop a more collaborative working environment.” They are eager to implement their newly minted skills within their workplace and in the community.

The Medical Clinic staff explored the complexity of their working relationships as doctors, nurses and allied personnel, and probed ways they might improve their communication, conflict skills, and their capacity to offer support to patients and each other. All the groups worked on issues of prejudice and marginalization, conflict management, and healing and reconciliation. They appreciated the lack of armed conflict on their island, but know there is a great deal of harm caused by domestic violence and lack of insight into the impact of one’s own behavior on workplace and society.

Next year we may establish a training program to prepare island residents working in various sectors to offer skills in conflict resolution at SGU as well as in other work environments and community organizations.

One participant wrote me to say that “if more people took these workshops, there would be fewer broken hearts in the world.”